Golden Knights to place Jack Eichel on IR with undisclosed injury

Although nothing has been officially confirmed by the team, Jesse Granger of The Athletic is reporting that the Vegas Golden Knights have placed Jack Eichel on injured reserve. 

Since Eichel has not played a game since Jan. 11 against the Boston Bruins, he will be able to return on Jan. 20 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, only missing three games in total.

Currently, the Golden Knights have not reported exactly the exact injury that Eichel is dealing with, but it will be the first time he has been placed on the injured reserve since December 12, 2022. 

In another largely healthy season for Eichel, he is leading Vegas in scoring, putting up 19 goals and 44 points in 43 games.

Eichel joins a growing list of Golden Knights who are missing time due to injury, as Adin Hill, William Karlsson and William Carrier all find themselves on the team’s injured reserve, and Shea Theodore is still placed on the long-term injured reserve. 

Staying relatively healthy for most of the beginning of the season, Vegas’ incredible 11-0-1 start has turned into a still respectable 24-14-5 record on the year.

Fortunately for the Golden Knights, the team just recently passed the halfway point in the season, and all players currently injured are still expected back by the end of the season. 

Reminiscent of last year’s Colorado Avalanche, Vegas is having its organizational depth challenged only a year removed from winning the Stanley Cup.

With Chandler Stephenson likely sidelined for the team’s game Monday night against the Nashville Predators with an illness, the Golden Knights may have to rely on Nicolas Roy and Michael Amadio to center the top two lines unless they are comfortable moving Ivan Barbashev off of the wing.